What Motivates Birth and Breastfeeding Organizations To Go Online?

Recently, the Journal of Human Lactation decided to establish a Facebook page.

Why? According to a recent Lactation Matters post, the self-described “digital immigrant” editor was egged on by the ” those incorrigible, born again social media-ites on ILCA’s Marketing Committee.”

They were also swayed by a number of articles coming up in their November issue (including a piece co-authored by me (Jeanette) and our friend Amber McCann.

Impact:

In less than a month, the page had 400 likes. The group has put a human face on the editorial staff (love all the pics!) and is engaging with the lactation world (including a cover photo contest, announced on the Facebook page).

Lessons:

Even if you aren’t a social media pro (we’re all learning!) or never plan to get online, be sure to listen to the “incorrigibles” in your community who are advocating for an online voice.

If you are the incorrigible one on your committee – show the research! A growing body of work, from research on women’s use of social media to slideshares to journal articles (we’ll let you know when ours is published!), can help you build the case. Mothers are online and organizations need to be there to reach them.

Be prepared for success! The JHL folks were planning to take it slow. Here’s what really happened:  ” . . . within minutes “likes” materialized like magic; within days we had over 100 of them and the “thing” had developed a life of its own.”

Are you the swayer or the swayed? What influenced your organization’s decision to go social?